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Amid a gentle dusting of ash flakes, county fire officials described how the Gap Fire burned all the way down the mountainside and into the actual yard space of a Goleta home Thursday night and how the firefighters on hand sought refuge from the blistering heat by going inside. The house, located on Camino Manadero just off North Patterson, was not damaged and the three firefighters emerged unscathed.

Despite persistent rumors to the contrary, fire officials insisted that no homes have been claimed by the Gap Fire other than a mobile home located on the northern fringes of Glen Annie Road. In addition, firefighters managed to squash two smaller spot fires that had sprouted up along Old San Marcos Road, making them the most eastern edge of the conflagration. One was five feet by ten feet in size, and the other was about a quarter-acre. And Santa Barbara Mayor Marty Blum-dressed in red, white, and blue-striped sneakers-indicated the city’s fireworks display would go on as planned, despite the City of Goleta’s decision to cancel theirs. “As many people say they want it as those who say they don’t,” Blum explained.” These details emerged during this Friday’s edition of the 2 p.m. press conference, held every day by the county’s emergency response offices to give information updates and allow elected officials the opportunity to make whatever points are on their minds.

By Paul Wellman

The view Thursday afternoon, July 3rd, on Old San Marcos Road

The bigger picture, however, was that the fire that burned through 1,400 acres yesterday morning and 5,400 acres Friday morning is now pushing 6,000 acres. Not all of that is continuous, uninterrupted flame however. Fire officials aren’t bothering to even conjecture an estimate for fire containment. But because of this growth, fire officials have also expanded their evacuation warning area to include the entire mountain side of Cathedral Oaks from Farren Road - located in outer Goleta well past Ellwood - to Highway 154. Very roughly, as many as 3,000 homes fall within that area. Last night, nearly 1,600 structures were ordered evacuated. That translates roughly to 5,000 people being pushed from their homes as a result of the Gap Fire.

As of this dateline, no new evacuations have been ordered. But depending on wind conditions, that could change. County Fire Chief Chris Hahn expressed exceptionally guarded optimism, noting that tonight’s weather forecasts call for slightly milder winds than firefighters faces last night. The 40 mph wind-fanned blaze last night marked the scariest moment of the Gap Fire thus far.

Tonight, the forecasters are calling for winds blowing 15-30 miles per hour. In either case, at night these “sundowner” winds push the fire down the steep, rocky, and brush-choked slopes toward human habitation and urbanized Goleta. (By day, however, the fire seeks out higher ground, and pushes up toward Camino Cielo Road - thus far its northernmost limit. Firefighters are extremely nervous about what might happen if the fire gets past Camino Cielo to threaten the mountain communities of Painted Cave, San Marcos Pass, the Trout Club, and Hidden Valley.) Standing between Goleta’s suburban periphery and this back country inferno is a belt of lemon and avocado orchards. Because these trees are irrigated and spaced out from one another, they tend to slow the fire down, giving firefighters a better chance to blast it with their hoses.

By Paul Wellman

The view Thursday evening, July 3rd, on Old San Marcos Road

Reflecting the Gap Fire’s growing size, complexity and threat to human life and property, the command structure of the firefighting effort will shift from Type II to Type I as of 6 a.m. tomorrow. The new designation means the command team will be national in scope, rather than regional or local. (When the fire started, it was classified as a Type III incident.) Running the show will be a new team that flew in from Montana Thursday evening. What makes this of potential significance to the local community is that Type I commanders typically have access to greater firefighting resources and have greater spending discretion. Given the intense competition for resources throughout wildfire-plagued California and the rest of the nation, it’s hardly a sure thing the new commanders can automatically get their hands on more line crews and more aircraft - the two most desperately needed resources. But they will be in a better position to compete effectively for them.

Currently, 10 aircraft - including a DC-10 and six helicopters - are fighting the Gap Fire. Yesterday morning, there were four of each. The South Coast would have had two more helicopters than that, but the Big Sur Fire escalated, imperiling several structures, and two aircraft were sent north to assist in that effort. According to the Forest Service, there are 1,072 firefighters enlisted in the Gap Fire campaign. That’s up from 350 yesterday morning. (Although Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared the Goleta fire a state of emergency, it’s not clear that the Gap Fire remains the Number One firefighting priority throughout the state that it was Thursday. That designation fluctuates with almost as much volatility as the stock market.)

County Supervisor Janet Wolf praised Goletans for keeping a cool head in trying times. “We all know what the implication would be if there was any kind of panic,” she said of the evacuation warnings and orders. That hasn’t happened, she said, because “everyone has acted responsibly.”

By Paul Wellman

Residents watch the fire from Painted Cave Road

Goleta Mayor Michael Bennett took the opportunity to express some serious Goleta pride, giving a shout out to Direct Relief International (DRI) - which he noted was a Goleta based nonprofit humanitarian aid organization - for giving away 12,000 face masks to keep tiny particulate matter carried by the smoke from lodging too deeply in residents’ lungs. (DRI, by the way, will be distributing masks again tomorrow, from noon to 3 p.m. at the Camino Real Marketplace.) Bennett also exhumed the dead body of California’s failed energy deregulation effort of 10 years ago and kicked it a few times. Before deregulation was passed, he said, Southern California Edison maintained two small “peaker” plants in Goleta, to provide the area with energy if and when the main transmission lines were unable to carry the load. (Traditionally that happens during peak demand periods during high summer heat.) He noted that the peakers were built specifically in response to the Romero Canyon Fire of 1971. But since deregulation, he said Southern California Edison was forced to sell off its peaker plants, which have since sat idle and poorly maintained. “This is something that has to change,” he vowed.

Evacuation, it appears, will become an indefinite lifestyle for an increasing number of people. The Red Cross entertained 100 guests - and many of their pets - Thursday night at San Marcos High School, where it has a capacity for 350. If need be, the Red Cross has three other shelters it can open elsewhere throughout the county. Fire officials cautioned it’s still too soon to begin discussing when the evacuation orders can and will be lifted. As long as the fire remains a threat, residents will not be allowed back in their homes.

By Paul Wellman

Flames in the Foothills off Old San Marcos Road

Power outages, likewise, could become a persistent fact of life for South Coast residents. A major transmission line runs horizontally across the body of the Gap Fire, and the smoke and heat impede the transmission lines’ ability to carry electricity. As Edison seeks to reroute energy through other grids - lines that aren’t constituted to carry such a large load - South Coast residents from Carpinteria to Gaviota were warned that they need to conserve energy all the time. Edison spokesperson Jane Brown pointed out that plasma TV sets use as much electricity turned off as when turned on. She urged people to unplug their screens, not merely to turn them off.

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Comments

I am in Austrlalia at the moment and worried about my friends. Thanks so much for having so much important information availabile online. I have to say that way "the other SB newspaper" is not doing the community a service by hiding valuable information behind log in screens and subscription forms. Thanks for serving the community so well!

Just came back from Fairview Gardens - fire looks deceptively passive except for the western part, which seems to be exploding with lots of smoke.

Something from the wildland fire fighters website:

"Just got off the phone with my contact. Firefighters made some progress today, however sundowner winds are surfacing now and with another windy night they will most likely lose all of todays gains. I could barley hear him with the winds blowing. Sounds like it will be a long night for Old San Marcos Pass Rd."

Thank you Santa Barbara Independent!!!!!Having lived in Santa Barbara/Goleta for yearswe followed the Zaca fire and now this Gap fire~~~Our hurrahs and thanks to Ray Ford!!!Our sons know him; he is brave, hard working and honest, and we appreciated his coverage.So SAD there is another fire to cover.Thank you for keeping us INFORMED!We are now residents of Tucson AZ

After 42 years in sb now in MN leaving friends and family behind. And after hearing about this and SB having blackouts and not being able to call there, thank you for the best updated info. the main news on line stuff..isn't worth it at all. Keep up the good work. And to all in SB fire territory my heart and prayers go out to you. Hope they get the devil that caused this, you can run but you can't hide.

I'm in San Francisco trying to keep informed what's happening in Goleta from the internet sites, from calling friends & from reading your blogs. Independent is the best site and its blogs give me specific useful facts -such as what direction wind is blowing -so I can judge where the danger is inbetween news updates. Observers, keep the news coming! Thanks.

I appreciate your close examination of our offerings -- even I forgot the wind direction was in our Weather box.

That info comes from a feed supplied by the Feds, and although official, is not as exact as I would like; kinda in the ballpark, but just barely. So, temps usually seem less hot (or cold) than say my car temp gauge, and winds lighter than what can be observed.

I, like some others have moved away from SB, but I do have friends and family in Goleta. The Independent has been doing a great job in keeping us informed on events related to the GAP fire. Thank You! The SB News-Depress should be buried in a dog bone hole, their coverage is comical - especially the requirement to pay to read. Even the LA Times has free service to internet users. The next time I am in town, I will make a point of picking up the Independent and avoiding the other paper. Thanks again for your commitment in providing pertinent and timely information on this fire, you guys should get a medal or public service award.

Thank you, Independent, for the up to date coverage on the fire! I would like to acknowledge the courage and endurance displayed by the firefighters working night and day over this fire. I live in Ellwood Canyon and the fire is looming dangerously close to us and feel extremely indebted to the brave men out there working to protect our community. They put themselves in such threatening positions to work for us and I have deep respect for their efforts. I've overheard people saying that they are not doing enough but we all need to understand that the nature of fire is highly uncontrollable, especially in chaparelle that hasn't burned in 50 years. They are doing all that is possible. Thank you, Firefighters! Also, is this really the time to be discussing cool bong hit locations in town? Come on, people, this is an extremely scary time!

My daughter lives in Goleta, she has tried to get info on the fire. All the Fire Deparment. The public info radio and tv has no current information. When she called the information "hot" line given out on the public tv and radio she got a recording that the department is closed call back Monday. It would be easy for the county/state to provide up to date information is a simple blog. With the time and date of posting. Also a fire map could be updated as the fire progressed. My daughter did get a call to evacuate tonight about 11:00PM.

Hi Randy, staff I appreciate you reading the blogs & giving me the weather site to learn about wind conditions. If the wind is strong and faning flames towards S.B., there's a great possibility this fire will spead to the La Cumbra foothills and..... Agricultural land rather shields Goleta, but there're vulnerable breakthru areas. Having lived thru S.B. fires, I'm worried. Only specific info helps.

Hello Azores, You reported your daughter got a call to evacuate tonight about 11:00 p.m. but didn't name the street so that we could get a location where the fire is active tonight. With bits of reports we could piece together & update a map of endangered neighborhoods. Otherwise we can't assess our friends' well-being. Luckily last night I called friends living off C.O Blvd. between P. & Old S.M. Rd. & was shocked to learn they were expecting a 9/11 call & evacuating.

For a map with all of the current evacuation areas, visit maps.google.com, and search for "Gap Fire Evacuations." I have created a map with that name, that I am updating with the evacuation order and warning areas, extent of the fire, information kiosks, and other points of interest. Feel free to leave comments on the map if there are any features you would like to see.

ErikaB thank you for the map!!!! I am trying to assist my UCSB student through this crisis and the map is just what I need. The Independent has also been a great resource to rely on. The UCSB campus has done nothing for its student community residing off campus!

Don't count on the kiosks to give you anything up to date - The Camino Real Kiosk had a map showing the fire perimeter as of July 2 !! right up to this morning (July 5th!)

I asked the attending Goleta City official why we couldn't get more up to date info such as the map above for us the computerless, TV-less and electrically challenged (i.e those closest to the fire without power and most in need) - he did not know. Thanks. Also don't count on KTMS 990 - see my comments and those of others at: http://www.independent.com/news/2008/jul/02/gap-fire-intensifies/

These and other comments about this subject mysteriously dissappeared but I reposted them.

If KTMS hasn't suggested removal as they apparently did the first time (since I invited them to the discussion) I posted them again have a look.

When the power is out or you are driving in your car and have no internet or TV - these are the only sources available of just where the fire perimeter is and they have NO IDEA - they don't send anyone into the field, they just report and rehash what they have heard at press conferences, or you are forced to drive around to see for yourself. This is not advisable when the roads are supposed to be used for evacuation and emergency services.

If you are the closest to the fire and your power goes out as is most likely the case - sadly, despite all of the emergency preparedness we have been hearing about from the City and County propaganda, you are on your own with zero communication - no idea where the fire is, how fast it is approaching, how your friends and loved ones might be doing, nothing up to date, nothing to help make decisions about whether to stay or go- maybe a two day old fire perimeter map at a kiosk. That's it.

We have become a society dependent on power and internet for information - most people do not even have land phones that work without power!

Pity us when something like this happens during Santa Ana conditions...we got lucky this time, maybe.